PG girls fight for final berth

Women’s Football

A PG Classes player (in white and blue) tries to shake off her D.M. College counterpart during the match on the university campus in Canchipur on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Imphal, Jan. 28: Manipur University PG Classes goalkeeper K. Jessica Devi’s sudden death goal guided her team into the final of the 4th Aheibam Borchand Singh Manipur University Inter-College Women’s Football Tournament at Manipur University Complex in Canchipur today.

In the semi-final, PG Classes beat D.M. College of Sciences by 3-2 goals after the score remained tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time. Biramangol College, Sowombung blanked G.P. Women’s College by 4-0 goals in the other semi-final.

Manipur University PG Classes will take on Biramangol College in the final tomorrow.

D.M. College started off in a convincing manner, netting the lead in the 17th minute through Julian Damei. They maintained the lead all through the first half.

The second half proved to be a dull affair as none of the teams were successful in scoring for a long time and it seemed that the DM girls would race into the final. However, PG Classes struck in injury time as Rk. Rozina Devi netted the equaliser to necessitate a penalty shootout.

During the penalty shootout, only Kh. Sunita Devi found the nets for PG Classes, while P. Latamani Devi did the same for D.M. College. Both the teams wasted their remaining four kicks, resulting in sudden death.

Luck it seemed had stopped smiling on D.M. College as Julian Damei’s kick hit the crosspiece, but PG Classes keeper Jessica slammed home her shot for the victory today.

In the other semi-final, Biramangol College routed G.P. Women’s College by 4-0 goals. Kenny Ningthoujam emerged as the hero of the day netting home all the four goals for the victory today.

She scored three goals in the first half itself and consolidated the lead with another in the second half to see her team through to the final.

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More money needed for Manipur

Lack of financial support is the biggest threat to Indian football’s nursery – Manipur, said a top official from the country’s northeastern state.
KUALA LUMPUR: Lack of financial support is the biggest threat to Indian football’s nursery – Manipur, said a top official from the country’s northeastern state.
“We get a minimal grant from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and it’s difficult to run all the activities on that,” All Manipur Football Association (AMFA) General Secretary Ranjit Roy told www.the-afc.com.
Manipur was the first state to embrace AFC’s Vision India programme and their 12-team Manipur State League is in its third year now. Around 200 players from this state alone are plying their trade for the club teams across the country.
“Nearly 50 players apply for inter-state transfers every year and the numbers are growing because the clubs in Manipur can’t afford bigger salaries,” he said.
The clubs run their activities, thanks to support from the local communities who chip in with their contributions.
“We are trying our best to lure sponsors. Our grassroots programme got a boost recently when we got kits for around 3000 children from a sponsor. The state government provides us with some balls and goalposts,” he added.
Apart from the Manipur State League, the AMFA organises US$ 10,000 prize money Winners Cup between the district champions.

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Chirag rein in East Bengal

Calcutta: Last Sunday, the East Bengal players were on a high after winning the Federation Cup in Guwahati. However, in less than a week, they have suffered a rude jolt as Chirag United logged full points with a 0-1 defeat of the red and gold brigade in their ninth round I-League encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

The win took Chirag to 18 points after nine rounds. They are second on the league table after Dempo who also have 18 points but are on top by virtue of better goal difference.

It was Brazilian Edmilson who proved to be the thorn in East Bengal’s side, scoring from the spot for the winner, in the 67th minute.

A defence-splitting through ball from Joshimar caught East Bengal side-back Nirmal Chetri unawares. Just when Edmilson was about round custodian Abhra Mondal, the latter pulled the striker down and referee Rizwan-ul-Haq pointed to the spot.

Over the next 27 minutes (including four minutes of stoppage time), Subrata Bhattacharya’s boys did well to stop their opponents from scoring.

East Bengal may feel slightly unlucky that the referee didn’t award them a penalty when skipper Syed Rahim Nabi looked like he was pulled down by Chirag stopper Arnab Mondal in the 82nd minute.

However, a close look at the full 90 minutes would reveal that it was Subrata Bhattacharya’s tactical acumen that tilted the scales in Chirag’s favour.

Not only did he curb East Bengal’s wing-play but his boys also enjoyed the numerical advantage going forward as counterpart Phillippe de Ridder chose to deploy three, instead of the usual four men, in defence.

Still, East Bengal had their share of opportunities, the first in as early as the second minute.

Subhash Singh bustled into the 18-yard box, latching on to a Yusif Yakubu assist. Subhash nicely set it up for Abel Hammond whose tap-in hit the post.

Chirag got a couple of free-kicks in the first half, in the 6th and 26th minutes, but on both occasions, Abhra Mondal dived to deny Bhattacharya’s boys.

Although Yakubu tried his best to make inroads, the lack of support upfront made it difficult for the Ghanaian. Harmanjot Khabra gave a poor account of himself down the right. Sanju Pradhan and Hammond lacked the sting.

On the other hand, Chirag skipper Denson Devadas slowly started controlling the midfield along with Soumik Chakraborty and Gouranga Biswas.

Although there were defensive lapses, the Chirag back-four complemented each other well. Arnab, Eduardo, Dhanrajan and Rahul Kumar defended with grit.

In the 42nd minute, Eduardo made an impressive goalmouth clearance when he prevented Pradhan from taking a crack from close. On another occasion, it was Dhanrajan whose timely tackle on Hammond averted danger.

Chirag could have gone 2-0 up, against the run of play, when Joshimar had Abhra at his mercy but his placement was poor and Abhra stretched his legs to foil the danger.

Thus, after beating their much-fancied opponents twice and having held them to a draw on one occasion, Chirag, with Saturday’s win, maintained their unbeaten record against East Bengal this season.

Teams

Chirag: Somnath Khanra, R. Dhanarajan, Eduardo, Arnab Mondal, Rahul Kumar, Gauranga Biswas, Denson Devadas, Soumik Chakraborty (Lal Malswama Hmar 61st), Ashim Biswas (Gouraga Datta, 84th), Edmilson (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 76th), Joshimar

East Bengal: Abhra Mondal, Nirmal Chetri, Uga Okpara, Saumik Dey (Beokhokhei, 81st), Harmanjyot Khabra, Mehtab Hossain, Syed Rahim Nabi, Subhash Singh (Budhiram Tudu, 60th), Sanju Pradhan, Abel Hammond (Bhaichung Bhutia 69th), Yusif Yakubu

Referee: Rizwan-ul-Haq

MoM: Denson Devadas

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